OBJECTIVES: (1) To synthesize cardiolipins with unsaturated fatty acids. (2) To synthesize phosphatidylepicholesterol. (3) To synthesize phosphatidyl cholesterol with unsaturated fatty acids. (4) To synthesize phosphatidylserine with saturated fatty acids. (5) To study bilayers from these phospholipids by means of differential scanning calorimetry. (6) To prepare vesicles from these phospholipids and study their permeability to water and to other charged and uncharged ions and molecules.